There is a diversity of flavours and textures here yet in a satisfying balance. Crisp and creamy baked polenta fries. Bright pickled mushroom salad. And then the soft boiled duck egg, which has its own delectable complexities.
Transfer the peppers to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool.
Remove the skin from the peppers.
Squeeze the garlic out of the garlic heads.
Toast the walnuts in a dry pan until starting to brown (2 or 3 minutes).
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.
Poached duck egg
Cook the duck eggs with an immersion circulator (sous vide) at 63 degC for 60 minutes.
Alternatively, if you don’t have a sous vide setup, cook the eggs at 75 degC for 13 minutes. Use a digital thermometer and be careful to keep the water as close as possible to 75 degC. The margins of error with this method are so much less than with sous vide. It would pay to do a test or two first.
Plunge the eggs into some ice water to stop the cooking.
Carefully crack and peel the shell from the wider end of the end, until you have a hole big enough to “pour” the egg into a bowl ready for plating.
Plating
Toss together drained pickled mushrooms and salad greens.
On the plate, top the mushroom salad with a few pieces of shaved parmesan and radish.
Add the polenta chips and duck egg to the plate.
Sprinkle a little salt, mostly on the egg.
Serve the romesco in a sauce bowl or directly on the plate adjacent to the polenta chips.